Biography
Patricia Herlihy, Ph.D., RN is the founder of Rocky Mountain Research. Patricia received her BSN from the University of Michigan and began her career as a cardiac nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), specializing in the education of families preparing for a member’s cardiac surgery. As she acknowledged the strong emotional components of medical care, she moved to the psychiatric department of MGH.
After finishing graduate school at Boston College, Patricia helped open a community inpatient psychiatric unit and then worked in a child guidance clinic for the next 10 years. It was in this clinic that she immersed herself in family therapy. These efforts led her to join the faculty at Boston University’s School of Nursing as an associate professor teaching graduate-level psychiatric nursing.
.When the school’s nursing programs closed, Patricia moved to the corporate world as a data systems analyst for Digital Equipment Corporation’s employee assistance program (EAP). It was here that Patricia began her interest and research in the area of integration of EAPs and work/life programs and went on to complete her doctoral work at Brandeis University’s The Heller School.
During the period from 1990 to 2010, Patricia was the principal investigator on six international research projects around the focus of integration of services. It was during this period that she co-edited the book The Integration of Employee Assistance, Work/life, and Wellness Services. In addition, Dr. Herlihy has spoken all over North America and in parts of Europe on the topic of integration, as well as published numerous book chapters and articles on this topic. While continuing her focus on the integration of services, Patricia also served on a binational board (EASNA) for eight years and built the research arm (KTR) for this association.
In June 2012, Dr. Herlihy was invited to become a visiting scholar at Boston College’s Cornell School of Nursing, focusing around the area of military sexual trauma, and continued to author articles on this topic as well as deliver presentations for the next five years. Also, during this time period, she was involved in the creation of two separate measurement tools (CIOM and the WIS).
For the last 10 years (since 2013), Patricia has focused on the creation and ongoing development of the International Employee Assistance Digital Archive with her partner Dr. Jodi Frey from the University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work.
Most recently, Patricia has co-authored the book THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: A story about the formation and impact of The Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) (published in July 2023). In October 2023, Patricia received the Life Time Achievement Award from Employee Assistenance Professional Association (EAPA).
During the period from 1990 to 2010, Patricia was the principal investigator on six international research projects around the focus of integration of services. It was during this period that she co-edited the book The Integration of Employee Assistance, Work/life, and Wellness Services. In addition, Dr. Herlihy has spoken all over North America and in parts of Europe on the topic of integration, as well as published numerous book chapters and articles on this topic. While continuing her focus on the integration of services, Patricia also served on a binational board (EASNA) for eight years and built the research arm (KTR) for this association.
In June 2012, Dr. Herlihy was invited to become a visiting scholar at Boston College’s Cornell School of Nursing, focusing around the area of military sexual trauma, and continued to author articles on this topic as well as deliver presentations for the next five years. Also, during this time period, she was involved in the creation of two separate measurement tools (CIOM and the WIS).
For the last 10 years (since 2013), Patricia has focused on the creation and ongoing development of the International Employee Assistance Digital Archive with her partner Dr. Jodi Frey from the University of Maryland-Baltimore School of Social Work.
Most recently, Patricia has co-authored the book THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: A story about the formation and impact of The Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) (published in July 2023). In October 2023, Patricia received the Life Time Achievement Award from Employee Assistenance Professional Association (EAPA).